Birthday Wishes
by Koizumi Mizuki
Summary: Right before Mahiro's birthday, Takahiro gets a fever. Knowing that it's impossible to prepare anything for his son, he is at his wits' end. Lucky for him, there's only one thing Mahiro wants. One-shot.


**This is a short story for Takahiro and Mahiro. I personally like Mahiro, which is rare considering that I usually don't like children. He's just too cute not to like, so I decided to write a bit about him. Besides, I don't think there are many stories about him yet.**

**Please enjoy!**

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**Birthday Wishes**

If there's anything one could say about Takahiro, it was that the man always tried to think positively in any situation. Rarely was a frown seen on his face, even in the most desperate of times.

This time was different. With his son's birthday coming up, Takahiro had plenty of preparations to make and presents to buy, but he could get to none of that. A sudden fever had been forcing him to stay in bed for three days already and the situation didn't seem to get any better at all. Even Takahiro himself did not believe that he would get rid of that bloody fever before Mahiro's special day.

It broke his heart. Mahiro deserved to be spoiled on his birthday, especially by his father. Takahiro was always at work, unless he had the day off, and didn't spend nearly as much time with his son as Manami did. Because of that, he felt like he owed Mahiro his undivided attention at least on the most important day of the year. He refused to give Mahiro the idea that he did not care about him or had forgotten about his birthday.

No matter how much he wanted to, there wasn't anything he could do to make Mahiro happy at the moment. His fever was high and he was too tired to go anywhere, so Manami insisted that he stayed in bed as much as possible. It felt bad to leave all the work to her. Manami already did so much for both her husband and child that Takahiro was beginning to feel guilty. He couldn't imagine that his job was any harder than what his wife had to do every day. When Misaki was still a child, Takahiro found doing all the housework and looking after his little brother more exhausting than his actual job.

In the end, it all paid off, but it was a long and tiring road.

Heaving a sigh, Takahiro searched for the glasses lying on his nightstand. His fingertips touched the wood, yet there appeared to be nothing there. He was about to get out of bed when he heard someone giggle. Opening his eyes, he cast his gaze on the blurry form standing next to his bed.

"Mahiro, did you take my glasses?" he asked, knowing it was his son.

"Maybe," Mahiro replied innocently, keeping his hands behind his back, "Daddy, how are you feeling now?"

Takahiro didn't want to lie to Mahiro, but telling him bad news wasn't what he wanted either. "It's hard to say," he admitted, "I'm afraid I can't do much yet, because I'm not fit enough. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. I just wanted to tell you what I want for my birthday."

Before he continued, Mahiro handed the glasses to Takahiro. The latter put them on and was finally able to see his sweet son's expression. He was smiling faintly, but it seemed somewhat forced. Takahiro knew it had to be because he was ill and Mahiro didn't like that. The child could be reckless sometimes, but he was also caring like his mother and father.

Mahiro reminded him of Misaki, in a way.

"Now then, what do you want for your birthday?" Takahiro asked, "I don't think I can give you much, but I'll try."

"I just want one thing…and that is that you get better. Be better on my birthday so we can have fun!" With that last phrase, Mahiro's face lit up and his arms flew up in the air. The sight of it made Takahiro laugh.

"All right, I think I can do that."

"Yay!" the child cheered, "Well, you need to lay back down and rest now."

Takahiro laughed again and did as he was told, not wanting the excitement in Mahiro's eyes to disappear. His spirits were already lifted by the boy's simple request. If a healthy father was all Mahiro wanted, Takahiro would try his best to give him exactly that. It was the least he could do for his precious son.

Mahiro ran out of the room, still waving his arms, and Takahiro laid his glasses back on the nightstand. With a smile on his face, he soon fell asleep.

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**It is my usual fluff, as you can see :) I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading and reviews will be appreciated!**

**By the way, I'm re-opening the request box! There are five open slots for five different users, so send me a PM if you have a request. If you don't have an account here, you could also send me your request on tumblr.**


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